What is a newsletter and why is it important to your content marketing strategy?

One of the strategies most commonly used by companies that wish to consolidate their place in the online market is content marketing.

But do you really know what content marketing is?

It is a series of strategies whose main objective is the engagement of a company’s target audience through the development of relevant materials and that involve the reader/viewer in order to create good brand awareness in the market.

Among these strategies and material formats, one of the most important is a newsletter – a type of news release that publicizes relevant news, articles, and content for the client, often associated with special offers or benefits.

Below, we will talk about the main features of a newsletter and explain why it is so important and advantageous for your business plan. Are you curious? Stay with me!

What is the ideal frequency for sending a newsletter?

Periodicity is one of the main characteristics of a newsletter, in other words, adopting this format in your content marketing strategy means you should send newsletters with a well-defined frequency.

Periodicity encourages the creation of a relationship with your client (or potential client), once he/she gets used to receiving the material and eventually, ends up expecting it.

There is no standard periodicity for every type of venture, but you will find that the more contact you have with your lead, the easier it will be to identify the content that interests him/her the most, as well as his/her real needs.

Of course, this process must be automated. If you plan to send a newsletter every Friday, you cannot set up the email on the same day! One tool that can help you a lot in the planning of this content is an editorial calendar. In this document, you list all the marketing actions planned for each day, which prevents you from forgetting something.

Another important tip is to think of a period of time that is suitable to the topic you are addressing because your client notices when you actually have something to say on the subject. With this logic, it is essential that you always renew the creation of content so that your message is relevant to whoever receives it.

What information can I send to my lead?

Newsletters are one of the key tools for lead nutrition, because it allows users to receive the information they need to advance in their journeys as buyers.

Remember that newsletters are not always associated with a time factor; it is also possible to include educational articles of leads in the newsletter, such as market guides, tutorials on the use of varied products, among many other options.

What should a good newsletter contain?

There are several types of newsletters available on the market – each with its own strategic focus and its own peculiarities. Next, we’ll talk about how you can produce effective newsletters and convert increasingly more leads.

1. Create high-quality and relevant content

Don’t use newsletters solely for the purpose of publicizing promotions and explicit calls for sales.

It is essential to take advantage of this contact you have with your client to provide quality and relevant content, thus creating a relationship of trust with consumers, which can culminate in sales.

Don’t use emails consisting only of images as they may take a long time to load depending on the browser and device used by the recipient, compromising their engagement with your message.

But before we even worry about the content of your email, we need to give incentives so that the lead will open it; after all, we are used to receiving several emails a day. You should make calls that arouse curiosity or that stimulate the reader’s curiosity by showing something new, controversial or unexpected. A good tip is to invest in a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

3. Invest in a personal discourse

Treating the readers personally makes them identify more with your brand. So talk to the recipients as if they are a good friend of ours, as this will convey the sense that you understand what they need and that you have the ideal solution for their problems.

And we’re not just talking about using the user’s name at the heading of the email, but also effectively segmenting your list and delivering personalized content for each stage of the sales funnel.

4. Don’t overdo it

Newsletters are created with the main purpose of bringing the reader closer to your brand, right? But beware. If you start abusing the submissions, the effect on the public will be the opposite: instead of bringing the lead closer to the company, you will make him dislike it.

The conclusion here is simple: the content offered should always be of quality and relevant. The reasoning for it is also very simple: responding to your client’s wishes doesn’t mean (ever!) bombarding them with promotions and information about the products you sell.

Contents that convert are those that represent usefulness for the readers: solve doubts, present solutions, talk about new possibilities relevant to their interests, etc.

In this sense, the more detail about the leads you gather, the better. This allows you to target your campaigns and send the right themes to each type of customer.

5. Create scannable content

If you have a large variety of themes to promote, separate and organize the calls, always remembering to highlight the most important reading points.

On the other hand, in the case of larger texts, keep only one introduction or summary together with a link to the full content available on the site. This allows the development of a leaner and more attractive newsletter for the clients.

This strategy also allows you to know, through the accesses, what were the contents that most caught the attention of consumers.

6. Customize the sender

Your contents should only be sent to those who really have an interest in them; and a good opening and conversion rate is only possible with well-targeted campaigns, with attractive calls and interesting layouts.

Another important point is to always insert the name of your company in the sender information of the emails sent. After all, if the recipient already knows your business, displaying your brand will make the newsletter more reliable.

7. Use a simple and attractive layout

Email HTML cannot be treated in the same way as website HTML. Complexities in template development greatly increase the chance of problems in how content is accessed on different devices.

For this reason, using simple layouts and CSS is the best option. Defining standard HTML to be used on platforms such as WordPress, for example, is a great alternative.

8. Never forget the metrics

The email marketing services used for newsletter sending provide several metrics that help you assess the success of a campaign. You can for example, find out which times generate the most clicks by studying the opening rate of different releases.

In addition, by observing the clicks, you will discover which types of subjects attract more attention and interest among your audience. Observing these metrics is indispensable for the success of your newsletter strategy and consequently for a good ROI (Return on Investment) rate.

9. Conduct frequent tests

The work isn’t over when the newsletters are complete. Testing is essential before sending content to your clients. Send the message to yourself, to other employees, to friends, test in as many ways as possible.

Remember to check the most used email services in Brazil, for example: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Bol, and Uol, without forgetting about software such as Outlook, Apple Mail, and Mozilla ThunderBird.

A good way to conduct tests is to use litmus.com, which shows how email is displayed on different email services. These tests will serve to make sure that the layout is not broken depending on the email service.

What is the importance of newsletters?

Newsletters turn you into a source of information

If you own an apparel e-commerce for example, and distribute posts and articles about fashion, you are creating a potential newsletter on the subject, which will be able to reference your client’s future choices.

They convert and prepare your future client

A well-articulated plan for content distribution contributes to the consumer’s purchasing decision process. In this sense, newsletters can catalyze the evolution of a lead in the sales funnel and improve the results of the business as a whole.

They contribute to brand awareness

Brand awareness among the public is undoubtedly one of the main pillars of entrepreneurship, and newsletters can also help you in this regard. By creating a newsletter release routine, you promote client loyalty and gain trust and respect from your audience.